Home Office

Kent Intake Unit: Paintings

Earl Russell: To ask His Majesty's Government why the murals of cartoon characters at the Kent Intake Unit asylum centre were found to be 'too welcoming'; and under what legal powers they were removed.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: We provide high-quality facilities to minors upon immediate arrival in the UK at Kent Intake Unit and all their needs are provided for.The unit works closely with Kent Children’s Services to ensure the unaccompanied children are processed and placed into appropriate care as quickly as possible.We continue to prioritise work with local authorities (LA), and Kent County Council, to ensure that children are transferred into local authority care as soon as possible via the National Transfer Scheme (NTS). We have supported this through our incentivised funding pilots to all local authorities across the UK, which aimed to encourage quicker transfers into local authority care.Between December 22 and February 23, the Home Office increased our incentivised offer to £15,000 per child, to allow local authorities to invest more money in long term infrastructure to support the children they received. We will continue to provide incentivised funding throughout 2023-24, with every local authority receiving £6,00 for each unaccompanied child transferred from a dedicated UASC hotel into local authority care within five working days. This funding is in addition to the contribution made by the Home Office to LA’s receiving children through the NTS, which can equate to £52,195 per child, per year, up to the age of 18.Recent figures show that 70% of UASCs are over 16. Further details can be found at the Asylum and Resettlement datasets – Gov.UK: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Department for Transport

NATS: Standards

Lord Young of Cookham: To ask His Majesty's Government what penalties have been incurred byNATS Holdings for failure to meet service targets in each of the past five years.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) sets targets and financial incentives on NATS (En Route) Plc’s service quality for three measures related to delays - average delay, peak delay and delay impact score and one environmental measure relating to flight efficiency. In the Reference Period (RP) 2 period (2015-2019), penalties were applied in relation to NERL’s delay performance for both 2016 (£0.42 million) and 2018 (£0.26 million) where it contributed to delays that were above its target levels.

Driving Tests

Lord Lingfield: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent the abuse of the driving test block booking system through the purchase and resale of test appointments by unofficial brokers.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: DVSA has already taken a range of measures to restrict abuse of driving test booking services. The DVSA is continuing to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing, and the DVSA’s work on this is ongoing.

Driving: Visual Impairment

Lord Empey: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessmentthey have made of the use of bioptic telescopic glasses to enable those with visual impairment to drive within the UK.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The use of bioptic devices and the possible implications on fitness to drive was discussed at a meeting of the Secretary of State for Transport’s Honorary Medical Advisory Panel on Driving and Visual Disorders meeting in October 2022. The panel agreed that bioptics are only used on an average of 2% of driving time, thus resulting in the remaining 98% of driving time occurring with impaired visual acuity. The panel considered that the use of the bioptic device impinges upon the binocular visual field. Therefore, the panel agreed the use of such devices remain unacceptable for driving.

Quad Bikes: Safety Measures

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government what further progress they have made towardsmaking the use of roll bars on quad bikes mandatory.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: There are no plans to make the use of roll bars on quad bikes mandatory. Research by the Health and Safety Executive on quad bikes used in the workplace is that Roll Over Protection Systems, which includes roll bars, may lead to an increased risk of injury in the event of an overturn by either preventing the operator from separating from the machine or striking the operator as the machine overturns.

Treasury

Nurseries: Business Rates

Lord Browne of Ladyton: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the average business rates charged to nurseries in England, and (2) the cost of exempting early years providers from business rates.

Baroness Penn: The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is responsible for valuing non-domestic property for business rates purposes. Based on VOA data from April 2023, the mean rateable value (RV) for a day nursery or play school in England is £26,400. This indicates that, before applying any relevant reliefs, an average nursery in England would pay around £13,175 in business rates for 2023-24. The sector has a total RV of around £320 million and represents nearly half a percent of England’s RV. The Government keeps the tax system under review. At Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a freeze to the business rates multiplier. This third consecutive freeze supports all ratepayers, including Early Years businesses, and means bills are 6% lower than without the freeze.

Department for Business and Trade

Business Premises: Coronavirus

Lord Fox: To ask His Majesty's Government how many settlements have been made as a result of the system set up by the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022; and how many of those awards have had their details published.

The Earl of Minto: As of the end of August, 125 awards have been made in accordance with the Act. Their details are published on the arbitrators’ websites. Arbitrators continue to work with parties to resolve the remaining cases.

Department for Work and Pensions

State Retirement Pensions: Uprating

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Department for Work and Pension's Estimated costs of uprating State Pension in frozen rate countries: 2024 to 2028, published on 19 July, whether there is any precedent where, when pensions were once frozen but started being uprated as a result of an international agreement, the pensions concerned were raised to the level they would have been had they never been frozen.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: There is no standard model for international agreements on social security, which are agreed on a case-by-case basis between countries or groups of countries. The UK's international agreements on social security which include State Pension provisions are included here:https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex4.listResults?p_lang=en&p_country=GBR&p_count=3017&p_classification=23.01&p_classcount=160

State Retirement Pensions

Lord Sikka: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish a table showing the median pre-2016 and post-2016 state pension currently paid to (1) men, and (2) women.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The department currently publishes the mean weekly amount of the pre-2016 State Pension and the new State Pension paid to men and women, and this can be found in Table 11 of the latest tables which were published in August 2023 on gov.uk. There are no plans to publish the median weekly amount however we will periodically review this as the new State Pension caseload continues to grow.

State Retirement Pensions: Uprating

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Department for Work and Pension's Estimated costs of uprating State Pension in frozen rate countries: 2024 to 2028, published on 19 July, whether they can publish the background workings to the estimated costs of uprating the State Pension in frozen rate countries.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The methodology is relatively straight forward and is contained within the publication but quoted below for ease:Estimates of projected costs1. The estimate is based on the latest available data (March 2022) from the 5% extract of DWP’s State Pension administrative data, the Quarterly Statistical Enquiry (QSE).2. The QSE is used to estimate the volume of individuals in frozen rate countries and their State Pension amounts.3. The State Pension amount, for all current and future recipients, is uprated (using the relevant indices) to the level they would have been if they had never been frozen.4. To estimate the costs for subsequent financial years we make adjustments to the underlying caseload and associated costs by:applying mortality rates to existing cases, based on age and gender;adding forecasts of future State Pension claims, which are based on historical trends and expected changes in the population, and are adjusted for mortality; anduprating State Pension amounts using economic assumptions from the Office for Budget Responsibility at Spring Budget 2023.5. The total cost for a given financial year is the difference between the uprated State Pension amounts and the frozen State Pension amounts.As with all estimates of projected costs, there is a degree of uncertainty, however where possible we have taken steps to try to minimise any significant measurement error.Links for the relevant data sources publicly available are:- OBR economic assumption for the relevant uprating indices here- Mortality projections here- Benefit expenditure and caseload tables (table State_Pension) here- Stat-Xplore SP outturn data from Nov 20 here

Poverty

The Lord Bishop of Southwark: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessmentthey have made of the Poverty Strategy Commission’s interim report A New Framework for Tackling Poverty,published on 5 September, and in particular the recommendations that a net rise in benefit awards by 5 per cent would reduce numbers in poverty by 725,000 and a net rise in earnings wound reduce poverty by 515,000.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The Department for Work and Pensions has not undertaken any specific assessment but notes that the analysis included in the report is based on the Social Metric Commission’s (SMC) measure of poverty. The Government accepts that the SMC’s approach offers a more expansive view of inescapable costs, and alternative income sources will add new insight to the understanding of poverty. In March 2023, the Department for Work and Pensions announced plans to resume work developing an experimental measure of poverty based on the SMC’s innovative work. The Government already publishes national statistics on low income using a range of measures.The Government’s focus is firmly on supporting people into and to progress in work. Our approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty.  The latest statistics show that working age adults living in workless households were over 7 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than working age adults in households where all adults work. To help people into work our core Jobcentre offer provides a range of options, including face-to-face time with work coaches and interview assistance. We are also addressing progression barriers through our comprehensive package of childcare support, our in work progression offer, and changes to the administrative earnings threshold which ensure that more claimants can benefit from work coach support.The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and is taking action to help. Overall, we are providing total support of over £94bn over 2022-23 and 2023-24 to help households and individuals with the rising cost of bills. From April 2023, everyone who receives a state benefit or pension will have seen their benefit rates increase by 10.1%.

State Retirement Pensions

Lord Sikka: To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) proportion, and (2) number of (a) male, and (b) female, retirees do not receive the full pre-2016 and post-2016 state pension.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: During 2019, a new DWP computer system called “Get Your State Pension” (GYSP) came online to handle State Pension claims. The GYSP system is now handling a sizeable proportion of new claims. The department has not yet been able to include GYSP system data in our published statistics for State Pension and the number of GYSP cases are too high to allow us to continue to publish State Pension data on Stat-Xplore. We have been providing GYSP estimates based on payment systems data and as a temporary measure, State Pension statistics are being published via data tables only. The latest release in August 2023 contains State Pensions estimates for the quarters to February 2023. A biannual release of supplementary tables to show State Pension deferment increments and proportions of beneficiaries receiving a full amount was suspended. This release is normally based on a 5 per cent sample of the legacy computer system. Given the absence of GYSP data, the figures are affected by the same issues as described above. The latest available time period for these figures is for September 2020 and can be found in the DWP benefits statistics published in May 2021 on gov.uk. We are developing new statistical datasets to properly represent both computer systems. Once we have quality assured the new data it will be published on Stat-Xplore, including a refresh of historical data using the best data available. For more information on these developments, see the State Pension section of the ‘Background information note: DWP benefits statistical summary’ published on gov.uk.

Local Housing Allowance: Families

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on families of freezing local housing allowance rates for the past three years.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: No Assessment has been made, however the department works closely with stakeholders, Jobcentres and Local Authorities to understand the impact of its policies on families. The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) policy is kept under regular review and rates are reviewed annually by the Secretary of State. LHA rates are not intended to meet all rents in all areas.In 2020 we spent almost £1 billion increasing LHA rates to the 30th percentile of market rents. This significant investment has been maintained ensuring that everyone who benefited continues to do so.Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available for those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs. Since 2011 we have provided nearly £1.6 billion in funding to local authorities for DHPs.We recognise that rents are increasing. However, the challenging fiscal environment means that difficult decisions have been necessary to ensure support is targeted effectively.Over 2022-23 and 2023- 24 the Government is providing support in excess of £94 billion to help households with the rising cost of living.

State Retirement Pensions: Australia

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they had last year with the government of Australia, if any, on the issue of frozen state pensions.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: His Majesty's Government did not have any discussions on this issue last year with the Government of Australia.

Department of Health and Social Care

NHS: Disclosure of Information

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what safeguards exist to protect whistle-blowers in the NHS.

Lord Markham: Workers who blow the whistle are entitled to protections, which were introduced through the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. These include protection from detriment or dismissal because of blowing the whistle, and a route of redress through an Employment Tribunal if these protections are infringed. In 2018, the Government enhanced legal protections available for whistle blowers in the National Health Service to prohibit discrimination against job applicants on the grounds that they have spoken up in the past.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Earl Russell: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure young people have timely access to mental health services.

Lord Markham: Under the NHS Long Term Plan, we are investing an additional £2.3 billion per year by March 2024 to enable an extra two million people in England, including 345,000 children and young people, to access National Health Service-funded mental health support.We also provided an additional £500 million for 2021/22, targeting those groups whose mental health has been most affected by the pandemic, including children and young people. Within the £500 million, £79 million was invested to allow around 22,500 more children and young people to access community health services, 2,000 more to access eating disorder services and a faster increase in the coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges. £13 million was invested to ensure young adults aged 18 to 25, including university students, were supported with tailored mental health support, helping bridge the gap between children’s and adult services.In February, NHS England published the outcomes of its consultation on the potential to introduce five new access and waiting time standards for mental health services, including that children and young people should start to receive care within four weeks from referral, as part of its clinically led review of National Health Service access standards. We are now working with NHS England on the next steps.

Abortion: Drugs

Lord Jackson of Peterborough: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Markham on 24 August (HL9115), why they have no plans to updateRequired Standard Operating Procedures for collecting information on medical complications associated with women accessing home-use early medical abortions; and on what evidence this decision has been made.

Lord Markham: The purpose of the Required Standard Operating Procedures (RSOPs) is to set out the relevant legislation and make explicit the conditions and requirements for all independent sector places to be approved for undertaking termination of pregnancy.In accordance with the Abortion Act 1967 and the Abortion Regulations 1991, all abortions performed in England must be notified to the Chief Medical Officer within 14 days. Any complication known at that time should be recorded on the HSA4 abortion notification form. This requirement is clearly stated in the RSOPs.Complications recorded in other patient record systems such as Hospital Episodes Statistics, where the woman has attended a health service after being discharged, are beyond the scope of the RSOPs.